


Give a Little Whistle

by LexLemon



Series: I’ll Build a World Around You [7]
Category: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Genre: Cliff Booth has a heart, Cliff just being a good dad to his little girl, Cliff loves his girls, Daddy-daughter bonding, Dog Walking, Domestic Fluff, Everyone loves Brandy, Gen, Little kids acting like little kids, SHE JUST WANTS TO TALK TO BRANDY, Very fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25211227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LexLemon/pseuds/LexLemon
Summary: When his daughter becomes fixated on the idea of learning to speak to Brandy, Cliff tries to teach her how it’s done...even if things don’t go the way they planned.
Relationships: Cliff Booth & Original Female Character(s), Cliff Booth/Rick Dalton (Mentioned)
Series: I’ll Build a World Around You [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852639
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Give a Little Whistle

_“Bobbie Sue, whoa, she slipped away._

_Billy Joe caught up to her the very next day._

_They got the money, hey, you know they go-“_

Cliff Booth turned the dial of his radio off as he threw on his blue jean jacket. "You almost ready there, Tracy?" he asked as he turned towards the front door.

"Uh huh," a small voice replied. Tracy Dalton stuck her tongue out as she finished tying the loop on her shoelaces, pulling them together with ease. She let out a small breath when she finished then stood up on her knees. A giggle left Tracy's mouth as she faced the family pit bull, leading her to reach out her five-year-old hands and rub them over the dog's neck.

"We're going for a walk, Brandy! Yeah! It's walk time, Brandy."

Cliff laughed to himself as Brandy responded by licking Tracy's face. He loved that he was able to spend as much time with his daughter as he was able to. Most days, it was just the two of them lounging around the house and having fun together. If he were ten years younger, he might be wishing that he were on a movie set instead, kicking somebody's ass to the ground for five hundred bucks. But now that Tracy was around, he wouldn't trade this life for the world. Cliff knew he was going to be a mess once Tracy was enrolled for school, but that wouldn't happen for a while. He was treasuring their days together for as long as he could.

It was a shame that his boyfriend, Rick Dalton, couldn't always join them. He was filming a pilot for NBC that day, so it was another afternoon of only Cliff and Tracy.

Cliff walked over to Tracy's side and picked up the black leash attached to Brandy's collar. He looked it over for a moment then turned to his daughter.

"Did you clip this on all by yourself?"

"Uh huh."

Cliff smiled down and wrapped his arm around her. "Good job, honey. You ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah, let's go."

Cliff opened their front door and led Brandy and Tracy outside to stand on the front stoop. He locked the door behind them then tucked the keys into his pocket.

"Alright, you two. Come on."

Brandy led the way with a low bark, her paws slapping against the gravel as she walked beside her owner. Cliff took hold of Tracy's hand as they made their way down the decline of Cielo Drive, his eyes looking around at the lavish homes that lined the road.

It had taken him some time to adjust to living in Hollywood luxury, but he'd grown to appreciate it. The area was quiet, the people were friendly, and he only had to pay half of the rent instead of all of it. What could be better than that?

Tracy made a hop in her step as she walked with her father's hand in hers. "Is Daddy pretending to be a cowboy today?" she asked, enunciating each word.

Cliff chuckled. "No, he's a bad guy today. He's filming a secret agent show."

"Oh. So he's scary?"

"A little bit, yeah."

"I like it when he's a cowboy."

Cliff gave Tracy's hand a squeeze. "Me too."

A tug on Brandy's leash made him pick his head up and look ahead. Brandy had begun to walk ahead of the two rather than beside them, her steps growing faster as they walked downhill.

"Hey!" Cliff said with a whistle.

Brandy stopped walking and looked behind her, giving him a confused glance with her innocent brown eyes. Cliff snapped his fingers and pointed at his side, prompting her to turn back and walk alongside him again.

Tracy let out a giggle and clung closer to Cliff. "That was a funny noise you made."

"What, this?" Cliff whistled again, making Tracy laugh louder.

"Yeah. Why’d you do it?"

"Well, it's how I talk to Brandy. You know how Brandy can't talk like we can?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, I have to talk to her through little noises I make so she knows what I'm saying. It's like...like a secret code for dogs."

Tracy's eyes lit up, and she hopped up and down with a gasp. "I know what a secret code is! Daddy said that when, when he was practicing last night!"

"That's right. He did."

"I want to learn dog secret code, Pop! I want to talk to Brandy!"

Cliff laughed at her excitement as he ruffled her brown hair in his fingers. "Okay, okay. I'll teach you. Now the noise I made before is called a whistle."

"A whistle."

"Right. When I whistle at Brandy, that tells her that I want her to listen to me and come over to me."

"And that's why she ran over when you whistled."

"Right. So to whistle, you got to pucker your lips like this." Cliff demonstrated and got Tracy to do the same, her lips squeezing together to appear like a tiny dot on her face.

"Then, you raise your tongue up in your mouth."

Tracy made an affirmative hum as she did so.

"And you just blow." Cliff repeated all of his steps and let out a soft whistle, sounding more melodic than the sharp whistle he'd given to Brandy.

Tracy puckered her lips again and blew out, but all that came out was normal air. "Did I do it, Pop?"

"No, that was just blowing. Try again, baby."

Tracy repeated the steps but could only get out a soft blowing instead.

Cliff scrunched up his lips and shrugged. "Aw, that's okay, Tracy. Maybe you just can't whistle."

Tracy pouted and looked down at her feet. She said in a quiet, disappointed voice, "But I want to whistle."

"I know. It's okay, though. Not everybody can whistle, baby."

"But I _have_ to whistle!"

Cliff stopped walking and looked over at Tracy, alarmed by the panic that had creeped into her voice. Sure enough, Tracy had stopped walking as well and had begun to breathe heavily. Her face had grown bright red, and tears were beginning to spring out of her eyes.

Cliff bent down to her level and stroked his thumb over her cheek, wiping away her tears as he spoke to her. "Hey. Hey, hey, Tracy-"

"I have to whistle because you said...that's how you talk to Brandy. And...And if I can't whistle, then I can't talk to Brandy, and Brandy won't ever know what I'm saying b-because she can't use people words. But I want to talk to Brandy!"

"Shhhh, shh shh shh, Tracy. Hey."

Cliff made a small pout as he leaned in to kiss Tracy's forehead. Like every parent, he hated seeing his daughter upset. However, it was hard to get Tracy upset about something, as it only tended to happen when she was worried about something. It was times like these when she reminded Cliff of Rick. It wasn't always there, but she really was her father's daughter. So when these rare occasions did arise, Cliff knew he had to step in and step in fast.

"What do I always tell you?"

Tracy sniffled, unable to look him in the eye. "'There's always a way for things to be better,'" she said in a quiet voice.

"That's right. And there's a way for this to be better too. See, Brandy doesn't just need whistles for us to talk to her."

Tracy picked her head up and wiped at her eye. "She doesn't?"

"Nope. She may not be able to say people words, but she knows some people words and what they mean. Like...she knows 'sit.' You can tell her to sit and she'll do it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Try it. Tell her to sit." Cliff moved aside to reveal Brandy, who had stayed put while waiting for their walk to continue.

The color returning to her face, Tracy pointed at the dog and said, "Sit, Brandy!"

Brandy obeyed immediately, as she sat on the street with a blank stare.

Tracy made a loud gasp and turned her open mouth towards Cliff. She jumped on the balls of her feet and said, "I did it! I did it! I did it!"

"See? I told you you could talk to Brandy."

"I can talk to Brandy!"

Cliff laughed to himself then noticed the street growing larger and longer before them, revealing unfamiliar houses and street signs.

"Oh, it looks like we reached the end of the street. Come on, you two. Let's go home."

"Let's go home, Brandy!"

Brandy knew the meaning of those words, as she walked at a quicker pace once they turned in the other direction.

As they walked back up, Cliff taught Tracy the other ways he talked to Brandy, like snapping and the clicks he made. He took note of how Tracy's eyes lit up with every word he said, her eager smile always ready to learn.

As he held onto his daughter's hand, Cliff took note of how her tiny palm fit into his larger one. Cliff would always treasure the days he and Tracy could spend together because seeing the way her eyes sparkled at him was something he alone could have. And he was going to hold onto that for the rest of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Songs referenced:
> 
> “Take the Money and Run”-Steve Miller Band: https://youtu.be/-WCFUGCOLLU
> 
> If you liked Tracy and want to see more of her, don’t worry. There’s going to plenty more fics where she’s included. She’s my main OC kid that I have for Rick/Cliff, so any fic with them involving a kid is going to involve her.


End file.
